THE CASE TRACTOR.

Press, Volume LXI, Issue 18287, 22 January 1925, Page 10

THE CASE TRACTOR.

REAPING AND PULLING TWO BINDERS IN ONE OPERATION.

SPEED AND ECONOMY.

Farmers who are ' puzzling their ! brains over the solution oif the problem of the cost of crop production, would ! make a great step or ward in their task if they visited the farm of Mr Arnold Young, at Irwell, just now. With the ®'d of a Case tractor • and .two binders attached he is knocking over his wheat at the rate of four acres per hour. _ Mr Young purchased his tractor last March from Jokn Chambers and Son: Ltd., "and prepared his land for- all his cereal and. root crops with an expeditiousness rendered him' quite, free from the troubles caused by the vagaries of the weather. When seen by, a "Press'' representative on Monday the "Case" was yoked Tip to two 6ft binders, and going through a 60bushel crop of Hunters whtet like the proverbial "one thing." The writer is old enough to remember what tyiri£ wheat behind the back-delivery was like, also the sensation created by the appearance of the old wire bander, which was the forerunner of the big family of twine binders. It is doubtful if that evolution was much bigger than the pne now taking place—the substitution of mdtOr power for practically all the tractive work of the farm. .

The tractor being used by Mr Young is a 12-20 h.p. Case. It is steered, from "the seat of the first binder, the steering wheel being as sensitive arid as eaisily controlled as a motor-car. It is started arid stopped from the binder seat by "reibs." The. only movement that necessitates the tractor being visited is to back it.

To the farmer the great problem is how the tractor navigates the corners without pulling the binders through the crop. This is'done by a most ingenious device, known as the No. 1 and No. 2 Gamble hitches. These hitches are a, sort of scissor arrangement, and pull the binders exactly in the wake of the tractor. There is no partial stopping and backing or sharp turning at the corners as with a horse team—the tractor and binders continue uninterruptedly at their-usual pace of 3£ miles per hour. These hitches really are the secret of the machine's great utility. They permit the tractor, arid, binders ; to be turned at right angles, the "divider" of the second binder com-' pletely "clearing" the first, and are supplied by John Chambers and , Son, Ltd. The" extension control' from the tractor to the 4irst binder makes cutting a one-roan job for each binder. The economical advantages are obvious. The tractor and its two binders 1 are doing the work of ' 12 horses. It eliminates the time occupied in chanpdnw - teams. There* is a limit to what teams will do in a day on a heavy crop if the pace is to be kept up. There is none with the tractor. There are wiih the .tractor no horses to feed and harness 'in-the morning and ta walk out- to the field. Earlier starts at the actual cutting and later stops can r be made, and the working day is still shorter. In an average (harvest) day of 10 hours up to 40 acres of crop can be cut. If .a. weather prophet "forecasted a nor'-wester the anxious owner of an over-ripe crop could double the working .day." With a tractor' the tendency is for the farmer to wait for the crop to ripen, instead of the ripe crop waiting on him. Beyond all these advantages is the one the value of which cannot be overestimated. Tillage and preparation" of the seed bed can be speeded up to allow every moment 'of out uncertain fine wither to be availed of. The chances of missing sowing; at the most favourable time is reduced to a minimum compared with the team. .This is more than an ooinion—it is a fact emphasised by farmers fortunate enough to possess' tractors this last- few years. The two-binder arrangement with the tractor in cutting has several- advantages. The ordinary cropping farm alreadv has one or more binders. If one ■should break down there is still 50 per cent, of cutting power left. . Tt is obvious that the tractor in farming will go a very, long way towards solving the problem of, the high cost of wheat production, and so .enable the country to compete against imported wheat. That result shpuld, m turn, stimulate wheat- production to an extent that will ■'make us independent of outside sources of supply.

The New Zealand Agents are JOHN CHAMBERS and SON, LTD., Christchnrcli, Dnnedin, Wellington, and Auckland.